Evergreen shrub. Leaves alternate, ovate to elliptic, to 4 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, glossy above, pinnately veined although the basal veins prominent and directed upwards, margins regularly toothed. Flower clusters axillary, to about 1 cm long. Flowers small, about 3 mm long, green. Fruit spherical, to 5 mm wide, blue-black, containing 3 nutlets.
Europe.
Source: (2002). Rhamnaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Rhamnus alaternus 'Argenteovariegata'
Leaves narrower than those of the species and with irregular white margins, sometimes slightly contorted.